200 not out: Celebrating 200 years since Darwin's birth
Darwin200 was a national programme of events that took place during 2009, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth in February 1809 and the 150th anniversary of the publication of 'On the Origin of Species' in November 1859. The Wellcome Trust joined in the celebrations, supporting a range of education and other projects exploring Darwin's theories and their importance for science today.
To give school students an understanding of the long-lasting legacy of Darwin's work, the Trust commissioned a programme of free science activities for school students aged five to 19. In March 2009, every state primary school in the UK was sent a Great Plant Hunt Treasure Chest, produced by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
Each chest contained a mini seed bank, plant press, plant identikit, books, and exciting classroom and outdoor activities. In May 2009, children took part in Great Plant Hunt Week - a week-long search for ten common species of plants. Participants recorded when and where the plants flowered, learning key scientific skills in the process. To date over 10 000 teachers have signed up to stay updated on the project and 'the hunt goes on' into 2010.
Survival Rivals, a set of free science kits commissioned by the Trust for UK state secondary schools, encourages students to explore the ideas behind Darwin's famous theories and how they continue to underpin biological and medical research today. 'I'm a Worm, Get Me Out of Here' explores natural selection for 11-14-year-olds. 'Brine Date' for 14-16-year-olds looks at sexual selection in brine shrimp. And 'The X-Bacteria' for post-16 students tracks the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. A total of 8570 kits had been sent to schools by October 2009.
The National Centre for Biotechnology Education at the University of Reading was granted a Society Award to develop a resource enabling science teachers to use modern methods of DNA data analysis, so that they can teach 16-19-year-old biology students about the latest molecular evidence for evolution. DNA to Darwin examines links between DNA and evolution in a range of case studies, such as lactose tolerance in humans and antibiotic resistance in MRSA. A course run by the Science Learning Centres enables teachers to get the most from the resource.
The Trust also commissioned a five-minute animation that formed the centrepiece of Sir David Attenborough's award-winning BBC1 documentary, 'Charles Darwin and the Tree of Life', broadcast in February 2009 and watched by 6.3 million viewers. The animation is featured on the Wellcome Trust's ’Tree of Life’ microsite, along with an interactive fly-through explaining the evolutionary links between living things and activities encouraging secondary school students to explore these concepts.
‘Routes’, developed by Oil Productions for the Trust and Channel 4 Education, was a ground-breaking eight-week exploration of genetics and bioethics using a variety of platforms - including an online documentary, mini-games and puzzles, a murder-mystery drama, discussion forums, video blogs, mobile updates and live events.
The 'Routes' drama was serialised in Channel 4's '3-minute wonder' primetime slot. As of October 2009, the Routes website had been visited by over 132 000 people, and the ‘Sneeze’ mini-game had been played a staggering 20m times. 'Routes' was nominated for a Children's BAFTA award and four British Interactive Media Awards.
As part of Darwin200, the Trust part-funded an exhibition at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge exploring the cultural resonance of Darwin's theories. ‘Endless Forms: Charles Darwin, natural science and the visual arts’, held from June to October 2009, brought together nearly 200 exhibits from around the world, highlighting artistic responses to Darwin's work, including imaginings of prehistoric Earth and evocations of a troubled life dominated by the struggle for existence.
Fittingly, the Natural History Museum's £78m Darwin Centre, to which the Trust contributed £10m, was opened during Darwin200. The dramatic eight-storey cocoon-shaped building encased in glass has doubled the size of the Museum's laboratory areas, and holds 17m entomology specimens and 3m botany specimens. Museum visitors can now watch scientists in action, and even ask them about the work they are doing.
Image: Sir David Attenborough helps to launch the Wellcome Trust's Darwin200 schools materials